@FrozenStorm - good luck in this final swiss round!
[details=P1, Turn 1]Ironbark Treant
Merfolk Prospector
Rich Earth -> Worker
Rampant Growth
Spore Shambler[/details]
4 gold (4)
Worker (3)
Midori (1)
Merfolk Prospector (0)
Discard 3, Draw 5
SQL - L1 Midori (2/3 +1)
Merfolk Prospector (1/1)
Base - 20
5 workers, 0 gold
Hand: 5
Deck: 0
Discard: 3
[details=Next Hand]Playful Panda
Young Treant
Tiger Cub
Forest’s Favor
Verdant Tree[/details]
Not that you need it but GL HF to you as well @EricF, this has been a really fun tournament to both play in and watch so far!
P1 [Balance]/Peace/Law vs P2 [Growth]/Strength/Anarchy
[details=Starting Hand]
Spore Shambler
Young Treant
Playful Panda
Tiger Cub
Verdant Tree
[/details]
###Upkeep:
[details=All Teched Cards][spoiler]
[/spoiler][/details]
###Main:
[details=Workers]
Verdant Tree
[/details]
Patrol as below###Board Info:
####Buildings:
Base HP: 20####In Patrol:
Squad Leader:
Elite: Tiger Cub (2+1/2)
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout:####In Play:
###Economy Info:
####Cards:
####Gold:
[details=End of Turn Hand]
Merfolk Prospector
Ironbark Treant
Rich Earth
Forest’s Favor
[/details]
[details=End of Turn Discard]
Young Treant
Spore Shambler
[/details]
[details=My Thoughts][spoiler]
Looks like MoLaC is my plan, Peace Engine is likely his (or maybe TRex). Have to be weary of Moment’s Peace as attacking is my primary vector for getting stuff done. I can’t safely bring out a hero (not even rook) with Rampant Growth a possibility, so I’ll get two of my 2/2s down right now and discourage retaliation w/ an elite patrol, next turn probably hero + tech 1 + float 1 (or maybe get a prospector of my own)
[details=P1, Turn 2]Playful Panda
Young Treant
Tiger Cub
Forest’s Favor
Verdant Tree -> Worker
Tech in 2x Overeager Cadet[/details]
5 gold (5)
Prospect (6)
Worker (5)
Tech I (3)
Tiger Cub (1)
Discard 3, rs, Draw 5. Float 1 gold.
SQL - Tiger Cub (2/2 +1)
Scavenger - L1 Midori (2/3)
Merfolk Prospector (1/1)
Base - 20
Tech 1 - 5
6 workers, 0 gold
Hand: 5
Deck: 3
Discard: 0
[details=Next Hand]Overeager Cadet
Young Treant
Overeager Cadet
Playful Panda
Forest’s Favor[/details]
P1 [Balance]/Peace/Law vs P2 [Growth]/Strength/Anarchy
[details=Starting Hand]
Merfolk Prospector
Ironbark Treant
Rich Earth
Forest’s Favor
[/details]
###Upkeep:
[details=All Teched Cards]
Gunpoint Taxman, Bird’s Nest
[/details]
###Main:
[details=Workers]
Rich Earth, Verdant Tree
[/details]
Patrol as below###Board Info:
####Buildings:
Base HP: 20####In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Elite: Tiger Cub (2+1/2) Scavenger: Ironbark Treant (1/2+2armor) Technician: Lookout:####In Play:
###Economy Info:
####Cards:
####Gold:
[details=End of Turn Hand]
Rampant Growth
Bird’s Nest
Gunpoint Taxman
Forest’s Favor
[/details]
[details=End of Turn Discard][spoiler]
[/spoiler][/details]
[details=My Thoughts][spoiler]
Well maybe MoLaC isn’t a good idea, considering he has Nature Reclaims… I also have Detonate for Garrison though, so that’s a perk. Almost certainly he’ll be bringing Tiny Basilisk, so I want to be ready for that. Taxman will be my choice, as the added benefit of AA will help lategame against Midori as well. Also I think Birds help Blooming Ancient as well as generally, so we’ll grab that as well.
[details=P1, Turn 3]Overeager Cadet
Young Treant
Overeager Cadet
Playful Panda
Forest’s Favor
Tech Tiny Basilisk + Gemscout Owl
Draw: Rampant Growth -> Worker
[/details]
6 gold (7)
Prospect (8)
Midori and Tiger Cub kill Treant
Mid-band Midori (4)
2x Overeager Cadet (4)
Young Treant (2)
Worker (1)
Discard 2, Draw 2, rs, Draw 2. Float 1 gold.
SQL - Overeager Cadet (3/3 +1)
Scavenger - Overeager Cadet (3/3)
Tech - Young Treant (0/2)
Tiger Cub (3/2)
L5 Midori (3/4)
Merfolk Prospector (1/1)
Base - 20
Tech 1 - 5
7 workers, 1 gold
Hand: 4
Deck: 2
Discard: 0
[details=Next Hand]Ironbark Treant
Spore Shambler
Playful Panda
Gemscout Owl
[/details]
What is this I don’t even… 0_0 going from 5 to 15 attack on the board… I am fright
P1 [Balance]/Peace/Law vs P2 [Growth]/Strength/Anarchy
[details=Starting Hand]
Merfolk Prospector
Ironbark Treant
Rich Earth
Forest’s Favor
[/details]
###Upkeep:
[details=All Teched Cards]
Blooming Ancient, Surprise Attack
Gunpoint Taxman, Bird’s Nest
[/details]
###Main:
[details=Workers]
Forest’s Favor, Rich Earth, Verdant Tree
[/details]
Patrol as below###Board Info:
####Buildings:
Base HP: 20####In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Gunpoint Taxman (3/3+1armor) Elite: Wisp (0+1/1) Scavenger: Playful Panda (2/2) Technician: Tiger Cub (2/2) Lookout:####In Play:
###Economy Info:
####Cards:
####Gold:
[details=End of Turn Hand]
Merfolk Prospector
Young Treant
Spore Shambler
Blooming Ancient
[/details]
[details=End of Turn Discard][spoiler]
[/spoiler][/details]
[details=P1, Turn 4]Ironbark Treant -> Worker
Spore Shambler
Playful Panda
Gemscout Owl
Bring in Nature Reclaims and Circle of Life
[/details]
7 gold (8)
Prospect (9)
Spore Shambler (6)
Move a rune to Eager Cadet (5)
Eager Cadet kills Taxman
Overeager Cadet kills Playful Panda
Tiger Cub kills Wisp
Midori kills Tiger Cub
Max Midori (2)
Worker (1)
Gemscout Owl (0)
Discard 1, Draw 2, rs, Draw 1
Scavenger - Spore Shambler (1/2) [1 rune]
Tech - Young Treant (0/2)
L8 Midori (4/5)
Merfolk Prospector (1/1)
Eager Cadet (4/1)
Overeager Cadet (3/1)
Tiger Cub (3/1)
Gemscout Owl (0/1)
Base - 20
Tech 1 - 5
8 workers, 0 gold
Hand: 3
Deck: 2
Discard: 0
[details=Next Hand]Forest’s Favor
Tiny Basilisk
Nature Reclaims
[/details]
… If only I could kill Midori… Kill all the buffed things…
P1 [Balance]/Peace/Law vs P2 [Growth]/Strength/Anarchy
[details=Starting Hand]
Merfolk Prospector
Young Treant
Spore Shambler
Blooming Ancient
Surprise Attack (techn)
Rampant Growth (darn darnie darn)
[/details]
###Upkeep:
[details=All Teched Cards]
Blooming Ancient, Chaos Mirror
Blooming Ancient, Surprise Attack
Gunpoint Taxman, Bird’s Nest
[/details]
###Main:
[details=Workers]
Spore Shambler, Forest’s Favor, Rich Earth, Verdant Tree
[/details]
Patrol as below###Board Info:
####Buildings:
Base HP: 20####In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Blooming Ancient (3/5+1armor, 1 rune) Elite: Young Treant (1+1/3 from +1/1) Scavenger: Wisp (1/2 from +1/1) Technician: Argagarg (1/3 lvl 1) Lookout:####In Play:
###Economy Info:
####Cards:
####Gold:
[details=End of Turn Hand]
Ironbark Treant
Bird’s Nest
Chaos Mirror
Blooming Ancient
Tiger Cub
[/details]
[details=End of Turn Discard][spoiler]
[/spoiler][/details]
[details=My Thoughts][spoiler]
Ugh… I was hoping to at least 2-for-1 with the Taxman! this blows, he’s laying 4+4+3+3+1+1… I can gamble with Treant to try and draw Birds, in which case I would end up with a 5/5 Bird and Rook + Naked Ancient + TRENT to block, but if I whiff Midori there’s a decent chance he double tech wipes me. If I’d drawn Surprise + Rampant (or had 1 more frickin gold to combo BA and Surprise…) I’d be able to kill Midori and totally wipe his board, but that isn’t happening either by the look of things…
Well I think I need to at least try for birds. If I whiff, I can just do Prospector + Worker and maybe I try to threaten Gunship? Silly to tech that in now, would chaos mirror or another Taxman make better sense? I think CM, I need anything that could potentially help me get to and destroy Midori. He is priority one.
Yeah… I noticed the lack of hero control in your assigned deck…
[details=P1, Turn 5]Defense: 6, 3, 2, 3 = 14 // 5, 5, [20]
Attack: 1*, 4, 1*, 4, 3, 3, +1 = 18 … which means I can’t clear the patrol zone and break the Tech II
Hand:
Forest’s Favor = +1 for 2
Tiny Basilisk
Nature Reclaims
Tech in Garrison x2 (planning to worker one of them, but want to maximize my chance of drawing one for next turn)
[/details]
8 gold + Owl (9)
Forest’s Favor on Midori (7)
Midori breaks your Tech II
Prospect (8)
Tech II Peace (4)
Tiny Basilisk (2)
Overeager Cadet and Tiger Cub trade with Blooming Ancient
Discard 1, Draw 2, rs, Draw 1. Float 2 gold.
SQL - Young Treant (0/2 +1)
Tech - Spore Shambler (1/2) [1 rune]
L8 Midori (5/6)
Eager Cadet (4/1)
Merfolk Prospector (1/1)
Gemscout Owl (0/1)
Tiny Basilisk (1/2)
Base - 20
Tech 1 - 5
Tech 2 - 5
Spec: Peace
8 workers, 2 gold
Hand: 3
Deck: 5
Discard: 0
[details=Next Hand]Playful Panda
Circle of Life
Tiger Cub
[/details]
Couple straight hands where I just can’t quite get done what I want…
P1 [Balance]/Peace/Law vs P2 [Growth]/Strength/Anarchy
[details=Starting Hand]
Ironbark Treant
Bird’s Nest
Chaos Mirror
Blooming Ancient
Tiger Cub
[/details]
###Upkeep:
[details=All Teched Cards]
Surprise Attack, Gunpoint Taxman
Blooming Ancient, Chaos Mirror
Blooming Ancient, Surprise Attack
Gunpoint Taxman, Bird’s Nest
[/details]
###Main:
[details=Workers]
Tiger Cub, Spore Shambler, Forest’s Favor, Rich Earth, Verdant Tree
[/details]
Patrol as below###Board Info:
####Buildings:
Base HP: 20####In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Tweetie Bird (1/1+1armor) Elite: Arg (1+1/3 lvl 1) Scavenger: Wisp (1/2) Technician: Rook (2/4 lvl 1) Lookout: Young Treant (1/3)####In Play:
###Economy Info:
####Cards:
####Gold:
[details=End of Turn Hand][spoiler]
[/spoiler][/details]
[details=End of Turn Discard][spoiler]
[/spoiler][/details]
[details=My Thoughts][spoiler]
No tech 2 means no Ancient to lay this turn or next… that’s a big problem… perhaps I should have patrolled mind behind last turn? I’m not sure where I’m making critical mistakes and where my deck is just ill-equipped to cope with buff maxbandori. Chaos Mirror is ALMOST enough to kill Midori (should have given wisp another rune!) and enough to break his tech 2 if I wanted, but he would most definitely kill Zane with Tiny B and then I’d be drawing virtually dead next hand. So I need to save Zane in the back pocket yet again… So the only other option is to lay Birds to keep Midori out. It’ll mean I’m at the mercy of Peace engine though…
No 2nd hero without a functioning Tech 2 
HA! You’re right. Well then, I need to figure out if I should just be conceding right here and now, because my gut tells me I almost certainly should…
Yea I have zero chance without at least Birds to hold the line, I’m done here. GG WP barely felt like I did anything though! I tried to get Surprise Attack and Chaos Mirror in to have some hope of killing Midori, that didn’t work out, and I tried to dig for Bird’s Nest last turn to keep Midori out but that didn’t work out either… I’d welcome thoughts on what would have been a better move, but I feel like I had a good idea what you were going to do and just straight up couldn’t stop it!
Yeah, green starter as P2 is hard to do things with.
I was trying to play around Zane coming out and doing something, but there might have been a gap where he (with maybe a Chaos Mirror for the Wisp?) could have turned the momentum around on turn 2-4?
I looked every turn, but never saw something that seemed worth it. Turn 2 I could have traded Cub + Panda move your cub, then mid Zane to get a kill on Midori and heal, leaving your board with only Prospector… but I’d skip tech 1 to do it, trade down on cards & whiff Zane’s maxband ability. Could forest’s favor Zane alternatively, that at least leaves opportunities for him to heal. Maybe that’s more worth for the board position than the economy looks like on paper though? Especially considering you drew both cadets… I figured you’d go for at least one Basilisk early though.
Had I drawn FF and Rampant Growth T2, I could have kept both my guys alive and gotten Arg midbanded, that would have been worth skipping tech 1 for… But again, ends up kind of sucking if you throw down Tiny B.
I think turn 2 was the only window I had though. Chaos Mirror early wasn’t a ton of good against buffed Cadets and Cub.
Out of curiosity, what do you think about green starter vs the more usual red starter or the white starter for Anarchy/Strength/Growth? I’ve been considering trying it out, so it would be good to know the pros and cons of each.
I know @Mooseknuckles loves green starter for Growth Strength X (his preferred X is necro) and it’s for the buff spells to put on Birds, which is highly effective. As P2 I didn’t dislike it necessarily, but it was difficult to counter EricF in this circumstance considering the lack of anti-hero measures. Here specifically I probably would have preferred White starter for Snapback, but it’s tough to say definitively. Playful Panda is nice for Blooming Ancient, Hasty things are nice for MoLaC.
Overall I think I like Red starter most for this spec combo, but all 3 have merits
I guess it speaks to how well this game is put together that all 3 starting deck options are good enough that choosing between them isn’t trivial. I’ll probably have to try all of them, but I suspect I’ll like either red or white best personally.
I feel like Green starter is a lot stronger for player 2, but I often struggle using it as player 1. Playful Panda can often get a ton of value.
If you had gone panda + Rook on your first turn here I think you would have put Eric in a pretty awkward spot. He doesn’t have an answer for Rook if you can efficiently level it up, but he wants to tap the prospector for value.
An early Birds Nest to threaten counter-attacks would also have helped - I would have needed to do something other than leave 3 guys with 1 hp each around, plus Bird + Dinosize is a reasonable way to kill Midori.